Miller: Ray Lewis questions have no easy answers

If not, then at least lead in a convincingly direction. Pick a side and build a mountain upon which the argument can stand, taller and louder than every other voice.

Yeah, sure. That's what we've been trained to do. Shape opinion.

Then, this week, Ray Lewis comes along, screaming and snorting and crazy-eyed. The strongest will and weakest soul, the most adored and most despised, the highest form of gladiator and lowest form of man, currently the greatest enigma in all of sports, praising God and bringing hell, raising hopes and crushing spirits, a football player impossible to block and even harder to wrap up.

An answer? Provide an answer? About RayLewis? Yeah, sure.

Lewis, a 13-time Pro Bowler, a certain Hall of Famer, a linebacker playing now with a mangled finger and after ripping a muscle in his arm, is a bear, all right. In every way possible.

What are we supposed to think, to say, to feel Sunday while watching Ray Lewis?

Thirteen years later, Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker are still dead. Killed in their early 20s, neither had a chance to build a long, productive career.

Lewis says Super Bowl XLVII here will be it for him, the final act in an NFL career that began in 1996, the face of the franchise arriving precisely as the Ravens were landing in Baltimore, too, more than 2,200 tackles ago.

On Jan. 31, 2000, Lollar and Baker were beaten to death – repeatedly stabbed in the heart – during an altercation in Atlanta with a group that included Lewis and two of his friends, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting.

All three suspects were charged with aggravated assault and murder. In exchange for his testimony against the others, Lewis pled guilty to a much lesser crime – obstruction of justice, a misdemeanor. He served a year of probation and paid a $250,000 fine to the NFL.

Oakley and Sweeting, despite – or maybe because of – Lewis' testimony, were acquitted. They argued self-defense.

Two men were dead and no one went to jail.

What are we supposed to think, to say, to feel Sunday while watching Ray Lewis?

Ever since, he has maintained his innocence but, within four years, Lewis had agreed to settle lawsuits brought against him by the families of the dead men for undisclosed sums. Both settlements were believed to be seven figures.

Baker's blood was found in the limo Lewis' party had hired. Having fled the scene, Lewis told his fellow passengers to "keep their mouths shut," according to the car's driver. The white suit Lewis was wearing that night never was found.

Lollar's mother, Priscilla, couldn't bring herself to attend her son's funeral. Until just last week, she never had visited his grave. She told USA Today that she is "numb" to Lewis.

Testimony during the trial was inconsistent and conflicting. It was close to 4 o'clock that morning in Atlanta, outside the Cobalt Lounge. Dark, chaotic and crowded with intoxicated patrons spilling out of a nightclub.

The prosecutor in the case, Paul Howard, called the self-defense argument "ridiculous," in part because one witness testified seeing Baker "running for his life." A second witness said she saw a vicious beating.

After the Ravens beat New England in the AFC title game, the wife of Patriots' receiver Wes Welker vented on Facebook.

What are we supposed to think, to say, to feel Sunday while watching Ray Lewis?

Typically during the national anthem, Lewis looks toward heaven and speaks to God. If Baltimore wins Sunday, he almost certainly will weep and his postgame comments will sound as if they're raining down from a pulpit.

"Ray Lewis has done so much for this team and for Baltimore," Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata says. "For us to help him get to the Super Bowl for his retirement is an amazing feeling. I'm just happy to be on his team."

Lewis was called "a model citizen" during CBS' telecast last weekend. He is the heart of a team, the inspiration for a city. His No. 52 jersey remains one of the best sellers in the league.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh says Lewis "has turned everything over." The development, the maturity and the loyalty – the growth – Harbaugh says is "a great thing for kids to see...fathers to see...athletes to see. It's a very special deal."

Before the Ravens' first playoff game, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, a man who has alienated so many players with his iron judgment and swift verdicts, encountered Lewis, paused and hugged him.

What are we supposed to think, to say, to feel Sunday while watching Ray Lewis?

Thirteen years, two grieving families and one justice system couldn't answer that question. And here? Well, it might not be the most black or white answer ever, but we hope it's an apt conclusion, one that rightly falls somewhere in between.

What are we supposed to think, to say, to feel Sunday while watching Ray Lewis?